President Donald Trump has swiftly signed several immigration-related executive orders and implemented other immigration initiatives since his inauguration.  These executive orders and policy changes have the stated intent to further the President’s policy objectives of deploying “the largest domestic deportation operation in American history” and targeting undocumented immigrants.  Their reach is vast and varied, including pausing refugee resettlement to those who had been vetted and approved; ending humanitarian parole that had temporarily allowed over 500,000 migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Venezuela and Nicaragua to enter and work in the U.S.; and launching efforts to find, apprehend and remove millions of unauthorized immigrants.  However, their impact extends beyond these groups and have significant implications in the workplace.  Employers need to prepare and establish practices and procedures to prepare for government raids, enforcement actions, regulatory changes and compliance challenges. 

The United States Supreme Court recently held in E.M.D. Sales, Inc. v. Carrera that the “preponderance of the evidence” burden of proof applies in determining whether an employee is exempt under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).  In issuing its unanimous opinion, the Supreme Court rejected the employee’s argument that the higher “clear and convincing” evidence standard should apply.

Effective November 1, 2023, the Massachusetts Department of Family and Medical Leave (the “Department”) required employers to permit an employee, in the employee’s sole discretion, to supplement or “top off” their Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave (“MA PFML”) benefit with any accrued paid leave (e.g., vacation, sick time, or other available paid time off) (together, “PTO”) so the employee could receive 100% of their regular wages during the MA PFML leave. This required employers whose Private Plans under MA PFML did not permit “topping off” to revise their plans accordingly.  We wrote about it here.